


Valkyrie

by hemustbeprettylo_ki



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Victoria, Bamf Charlie Swan, Bella Needs Help, Bella Swan with a Backbone, Bisexual Female Character, Book: New Moon, Carlisle Is A Good Dad, Depression, Edward Cullen Being An Asshole, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Lesbian Sex, Love/Hate, Outlander References, Past Edward Cullen/Bella Swan - Freeform, References to Depression, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Roadtrips, Scottish Character, Scottish Victoria, Volturi, travelling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 09:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15555207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hemustbeprettylo_ki/pseuds/hemustbeprettylo_ki
Summary: He's gone.He left me.He said he would never.He lied to me.They left me.They lied to meBecauseNowThey'reGone.





	1. An Unexpected Guest

In the span of time that they had been gone, I had done my very best to pretend that I was okay. Since the day they vanished to this very moment, I pretended I was fine, I pretended that I was unaffected…that I simply didn't care. I. Was. Lying.

 The tangible ache in my chest was still there without fail, every single day - gripping my heart in a chilled, vice-like hand and  _ s q u e e z i n g _ .

Every breath I took pained me, it felt like shattered shards of glass were being dragged down my throat and it  _ b u r n e d _ . God, it burned like white-hot coals, almost on par with the molten metal of James’ venomous bite.

 

I'd lost any sense of feeling; food now tasted like cardboard and sand on my tongue. I rarely slept, often jolting into awareness covered in a cold sweat, a strangled scream dying on my lips.

In the beginning, when I woke from my nightmares, I expected one of them to be looming above me, ready to take me into a cool, solid embrace. I eventually realised they wouldn't come back. They had left. I was alone.

 

 At first when the nightmares started, I would awaken, thrashing and screaming, hot tears pouring down my face, my sheets clinging to my sweaty body like a damp, second skin.  Seconds later Charlie would stumble sleepily into my room and sit on the side of my bed, rubbing my back, moving away the dark hair plastered to my forehead, soothing me back into fitful sleep.   I soon learnt to muffle my screams. Charlie needed a decent night’s sleep anyway.

 I knew he had briefly considered sending me back to Renée. But after a phone call that consisted of her criticising me for being melodramatic and attention-seeking, Charlie quickly reconsidered, muttering about her being an insufferable idiot as he moved around the kitchen. In fact it was his renewed efforts in getting me to talk, eat, sleep and study, that bolstered me. Made me want to do things, to make him proud mostly, but I wanted to get out of this misery. Because at least I knew that though they didn't care, Charlie did.

 

I was content for a while to simply exist. My eating habits were improving slightly and I was managing to finish multiple bottles of water - I hadn't realised how desperately my body needed hydration. I was slowly making process, Charlie had begun to smile more and the worry lines, creasing his forehead began to smooth.

 

     One Saturday morning, when Charlie was away on a fishing trip, I decided to brave a trip downstairs, I could no longer ignore the burn in my throat, crying for water that wasn't slightly stale. But I misjudged my body's capabilities and abruptly I collapsed at the bottom of the stairs, like a puppet whose strings had been snapped. The back of my head whacked against the bottom step and pain exploded at the base of my skull, ricocheting around my temples and fizzling into sparks behind my eye sockets. Dizzy and disorientated, I wasn't aware of my surroundings, all I could hear was the beating of my heart and the steady  _ whoosh  _ of the blood in my veins being pumped sluggishly around my body. Black spots danced in front of my eyes in varying complex patterns. When I was finally able to focus and force away the ache in the back of my head that for some reason had travelled to my jaw, my eyes met a pair of burning crimson irises and zeroed in on a head of fiery red curls.

 

Victoria had found me. I was going to die.

 

              I scrambled back in alarm, fingernails scrabbling against the wiry carpet. Victoria blinked lazily, slanted cat-like eyes surveying me with interest. She hummed softly, a rumbling sound not unlike a purr. I was instantly confused. Why was she not attacking me?  _ He _ had said that Victoria was hell bent on killing me to atone for them killing her mate, James.

“Finally back with reality are we?” She said, her red eyes flicking up and down my prone form as if scanning for something. Her voice was high and clear with the ringing melody typical of Vampires. It was a little unnerving to hear the broad tone of a Scottish accent in her voice as it was unexpectedly warm and lilting, almost playful in quality. I'd expected her to be like Carlisle and have little to no discernible accent but no, the strong Highland pronunciations were firmly implanted in her vocals. “I thought the Cullens liked ye,” She mused, “But I suppose not, it appears I was mistaken afte-all.

“Yeah,” I replied hollowly, “I thought so too.” Victoria bobbed her head, one long piece of corkscrew curls dropped into front of her left eye, red blended with red until she brushed the hair away with a movement so quick, my eyes could only see a blur.

“But still, why would they leave ye alone? I didna' expect to find ye here by your lonesome, I had thought that they'd disappear from your life but come back to check on their wee pet.” She stood effortlessly, leaving me on the floor as she prowled around the kitchen, peering through the small open hatch that gave her an unrestricted view into the living room and the open door into the garage. I was slightly affronted at being labelled a pet but I realised that there was truth to that statement, they had fed me and cuddled me softly, apparently cherishing me until they'd gotten bored, and I had been abandoned like a dog on the side of the road.

“H-he told me h-he didn’t want me anymore, that h-he and h-his f-f-family were bored of having me around.” Despite my best efforts, I still stuttered when _He_ and his family were brought up. Just thinking about them made my heart throb pathetically.

“What, and they didn’t think that I’d come back, seeking some kind of retribution, pah!” She exclaimed, spinning on her heel and gnashing her perfect white teeth. For a second I was afraid. With her fiery hair and bloody eyes, she looked like some twisted avenging angel - a Valkyrie or an Amazon, ready for battle. I had no doubt that on her own, Victoria was twice as deadly as she may have been in the small coven of nomads - she was the harbinger of a storm, and I was trapped in the middle.

Her eyes snapped to my face, I blanched, assuming the worst, that this was when I died. Instead she chuckled softly, her intense gaze never wavering.

“Och no  _ girlie,  _ I shan’t be harming ye,” Her 'r's rolled into a soft purr, the extended sound seemed only to intensify the weight of her ruby eyes. She paused to curve her red painted lips into a smug smile, revealing her slick white teeth, “Weel, at least not yet, not when ye can still be of some use to me, eh.”  She phrased her finals words like a question, but I knew better than to assume I had any say in the matter - whether it was this stunning creature with homicidal tendencies or the eternal boy who strung me along like I was nothing, I knew I would never be able to fully make my own decisions, with  _ Him  _ it had just been easier to go along with his orders but the challenging gleam in Victoria's eyes suggested she wanted me to resist, to argue with her. And perhaps I would, provided she let me live long enough to contest whatever plans she may have made.

I swallowed, my throat clicking dryly. My hands shook as I gathered them in my lap - I didn’t know if it was fright or anticipation, but one look at Victoria’s cat-like grin told me that I would have no idea about what was to come.

  
  



	2. Smoke and Mirrors

Victoria prowled around my bedroom, her sinewy form and the subtle rippling of muscle beneath her thin, white blouse made her look like a wild cat I'd seen at a zoo, pacing in its cage out of agitation.  Her nose seemed permanently wrinkled in disgust, in her hand was the crumpled photo of myself and  _ him  _ at my last disastrous birthday party. 

 “How is it that your laddie can be gone for so long yet his stench still remains, I didna’ think that a Vampire’s scent would last this long.”  Her baleful eyes flickered between myself and the version of me in the picture - now nothing but a stranger. 

 “He spent every night here.” I replied dully from my position in my window seat, a thick blanket wrapped around my shoulders. The cold press of the windowpane through the blanket grounded me, otherwise I was sure I’d be lost in a daze, unable to compute that the Vampire that I was led to believe wanted to string me up by my guts, was actually acting civil and had made no move to hurt me, well, not yet anyway.

    After I'd struggled to my feet downstairs, Victoria had watched in amusement as I wobbled into the kitchen and filled up a water bottle. She’d giggled softly as I tripped trying to get back up the stairs and I'd nearly fallen down them when she blurred past me to wait at the mouth of the landing. From then on she was content to look around my house, leaving me to settle into the window seat, prepared for another sleepless night. 

 

   “What, really? Ev’ry night, Christ almighty, no wonder it reeks in here.” She leaned against my flimsy chest of drawers, crossing her long arms under her bust. “What would he do with himself all night?” She mused, quirking an eyebrow at me when I didn't answer, not realising it wasn't a rhetorical question. 

“He liked to watch me sleep, said it was interesting.” When I said it out loud, I was surprised to feel the curl of disgust in my gut and the prickling feeling of unease made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I'd never had that reaction before, I used to think it was almost romantic but now, well, I could see things from a different perspective. Victoria apparently heavily disagreed with my past self, her beautiful face scrunched up whether in revulsion or anger, I did not know. I continued softly, “Before we officially became friends and eventually…” I trailed off, knowing Victoria would understand what I meant,  “He would rest in that tree there, and look through my window, the curtains don't go all the way across so there's always a gap.”

  “Weel full offense to him  _ girlie,  _ he sounds like a bit of a pervert.” I huffed a laugh, taking a small sip from the water bottle I held in a white knuckled grip, my hands shaking minutely. 

“Yeah, always found that a bit weird.” My movements were jerky as I pulled the blanket around my shivering shoulders and flashed a wry smile at Victoria, whose head was cocked to one side as she regarded me coolly. 

 “Why though, he's a mind-reader is he no? Surely he didna need to be that close to ye?” Victoria scowled as she spoke of  _ his  _ gift. 

“Couldn't read my mind, s’what made h-him interested in me.” She froze, her crimson eyes shooting up to pin me with an incredulous stare. 

“Oh?” She said, a grin breaking out on her devastatingly perfect face. 

“It's the same with you, right?” I recalled a instance when we fled Forks and  _ he  _ was angry about not getting an accurate read on Victoria’s thoughts in the meadow. 

 “Not quite, my particular skill allows me to survive, tells me more like, it’s hard tah survive when someone can see your ev’ry move, so it's more like anyone with some kind of telepathic ability would only see certain things ye ken.” As she spoke about her gift, a strange glow entered her eyes and her smile grew more sinister.  “That's how I evaded James for so long, what drew him to me in the first place,” She laughed humourlessly, “I guess that makes us similar, girlie, how the men in our lives desired us because we were different.” I was silent after her speech, a morbid feeling of understanding settled in my stomach. I didn't know what to say after her revelation but I knew that there had been a shift once more in how she and I viewed each other. 

 

 Slowly she nodded, discarding the crumpled photo she held into the bin beside my desk and stalking over to my bedroom door. 

 “You're leaving?” I croaked, startling myself at how quickly I voiced my thoughts. Victoria paused, a hand on the open door. She flexed her fingers quickly and turned her head to face me. 

“Aye, for the while at least, ye need sleep and I need to hunt, I wanna gather my thoughts for a bit.” And with that she flashed from my sight, I heard the door downstairs slam shut, and I was alone once more. 


End file.
